Chương 225: Unorthodox Plan

Dageer woke up drenched in sweat. After his guard shift last night had ended, he had returned to his tent, his talk with Brain still on his mind. Unfortunately for him, the nightmares didn't go away. In fact, they became stronger. The hatred, the pain, the suffering... Dageer couldn't take it.

Around him, he saw that many troopers were already awake, sitting on the ground, polishing their weapons. It seemed he wasn't the only one who was facing problems to sleep.

He got up, and picked up his helmet and blasters. Going outside the cave, he used his macrobinoculars to spy on the relay station. It was still the same, with a few patrols outside, mostly B1 units, with a few B2 super battle droids here and there.

"Cell, come outside."

Using his comlink, Dageer quickly contacted the scout. Cell had been out last night, with another trooper, to get closer to the target under the cover of darkness. Now, it was time to report. Dageer totally disregarded the fact that the clone would be exhausted. They were at war, there was rarely time to rest.

"Right away, commander."

Soon, the clone arrived. His armor was dusty and battered, the paint that covered it scratched and with several black spots. Cell was still limping a little, thanks to his strained tendons from when a grenade launched him away. It wasn't a pretty sight at the time, and for some time, he didn't wake up, worrying Dageer and the others. However, Cell wasn't one to go down so quietly, and as soon as he got up, he was back into the action. That was a few days ago already, when Commander Keeli and General Di were still alive.

Shaking his head, Dageer couldn't help but think of how everything reminded him of his two superiors. He was a lot more attached to them than he himself knew.

"Report."

"It is still the same, sir. Topnotch and I got pretty close to it, but we couldn't see anything of importance. The seppies seen to be slacking on their security, though. The number of clanckers is still the same, but their patrols are more sparse."

"I also wouldn't be worried after the disaster from yesterday. They probably think the Republic won't be able to even land a foot on Ryloth."

"Will we, sir?"

"Of course. The seppies aren't the only ones who have lots of troops. It will be painful and costly, but the Republic will get Ryloth back."

Cell said nothing. War wasn't fair. War wasn't beautiful. It was dark and horrifying, and he knew that well enough. He had no illusions that the Separatist would give up Ryloth easily, not after the price the 303rd made they pay to get it. And he also had no illusions that if the price for the Republic became too great, the Senate wouldn't hesitate to abandon the few survivors of the 303rd.

"Permission to rest, sir?"

"Yes. Grab as much sleep as you can. Tonight, I need you to take me to have a look at the relay station."

"You are having one of your ideas, aren't you, commander?"

Dageer chuckled. The members of Hell Squad really knew him too well. He couldn't hide any of his thoughts from them.

"Yes, I am."

"Haha! I can't wait for it."

Dageer shook his head. However, Cell's cheerfulness opened his eyes. With a Republic fleet nearby, and a clear plan on his mind, things weren't looking so glum anymore.

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The nights in Ryloth were always bright, thanks to the two moons that spun around the planet. This night, however, clouds covered the sky, blocking the light, and shrouding the planet in darkness. It was perfect for Dageer and Cell's scout mission.

"There it is, sir."

Dageer lowered his macrobinoculars, the green light helping him see in the dark. It was just as Cell said. The droids were patrolling in their normal groups of six, but there were big empty spaces between each patrol, more than enough for a small squad of clones to get by. Clearly, the commander of the relay station - probably a droid captain - wanted to save their batteries. Dageer had spent a few months struggling to understand how droids could become 'lazy' like that, but since it happened all the time, and it was good for the Republic, he decided to just leave it be.

"Uhmm..."

"Do you see something, commander?"

Cell, hearing Dageer mumble, followed his line of sight, but couldn't find what interested his squad leader.

"You see those hatches?"

Now knowing what he was looking for, Cell quickly found the railings Dageer was looking at. However, upon seeing it, he frowned.

"Yeah. It's the ventilation system. You are not thinking of using it to get in, are you, sir? It is too small for us."

Dageer frowned. Cell was right. However, he had someone else in mind for the task. He just didn't know if Ragout would be willing.

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Ragout was willing. In fact, the young Jedi congratulated Dageer for thinking of such plan. In no moment he said anything about how dangerous it would be, being all by himself inside the vents of a Separatist base.

Together, commander and general devised the rest of the plan. It would be ideal if they could contact General Skywalker, to ask when he would attack again. However, they wouldn't have this advantage.

Luckily for them, when the 501st attacked again, five days after the first attempt, it was night on this side of Ryloth. Using the cover of the darkness, Ragout sneaked past the droids, and entered the vents. Dageer and the others would wait for his signal to attack.

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For a ventilation system, Ragout thought it was surprisingly hot. However, he had to admit that Dageer's plan was good. He could think of at least ten situations in the past that he could have done that.

"Captain, the Republic... Bzzz... Scum is attacking again."

"How many ships? Bzzz..."

"Hum... Just one."

"One?! Ha! This... Bzzz... Puny Republic efforts are nothing to our... Bzzz... Blockade."

Ragout could hear a clancker reporting to the droid captain in charge of the relay station, however, but he couldn't see them. For a moment, he wondered why there was only one ship attacking. However, he also knew that now was the perfect time for the 303rd to do their job.

"Commander, start the party."

"Haha... With pleasure, General Ragout."

As he heard the first laser shots being fired outside, Ragout chuckled at how promptly Dageer responded to his order to attack, and pulled out his lightsaber.

The droid captain and the B1 unit which came to report were surprised to see a green light sever a piece of the vents. It was also the last thing they saw.

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When Dageer heard Ragout's order, he didn't hesitate to attack, paying no heed to the battle in the sky above, so he didn't notice that only one badly damaged Republic cruiser was slowly approaching the blockade.

He lifted his DC-15A, and took aim. Next to him, the fifty or so clones who were laying prone also got up. The nearby clanckers who spotted them didn't last long.

"Now, lads! Move up to the building!"

After taking out the patrols in a split-second, they ran to the relay station. Dageer took out two of the droids guarding the door, and heard a trooper curse near him. Looking back briefly, he saw that the wound wasn't deadly, and ignored it. The trooper knew what to do.

Arriving near the door, he crushed the control panel with his blaster, and the door opened. Instantly, he saw several dozen droids running towards him. Grinning, he dropped down to let the soldiers behind him fire without worrying about hitting their commander.